Neighbours magazine celebrates a successful first year

Posted: March 13, 2017

A new neighbour moved into East St. Paul one year ago this April and is thrilled to be celebrating that fact.

Alison Brochu is the publisher of Neighbours of East St. Paul, the glossy magazine that's delivered free to your mailbox each month, and she's excited to say she's entering Year 2 as an East St. Paul entrepreneur.

Neighbours aims to deliver the kind of good community news that's missing from larger, regional publications by celebrating life in the neighbourhood of East St. Paul.

"Each issue of the magazine features a family in the neighbourhood, or a business, and it's about keeping the community informed about things happening in their community," Brochu said.

"We want to be the voice for the community."

The first year has gone well enough that the latest edition has bumped up to 20 pages from 16.

The magazine is free, and therefore relies solely on advertising dollars to keep it going. While Brochu has had enough support to make it through Year 1 - a feat in today's media climate without a doubt - she's hoping local businesses will recognize she, and editor Brandi Parnell, are here for the long haul and join the list of regular advertisers.

Brochu wants to add features on things like sports stars and veterans. She's keen to hear from the people of East St. Paul about what they want in their magazine too.

"There's a lot of ideas I have ... but we can't do them until we grow the magazine and get more advertisers."

Brochu is an independent contractor who owns the East St. Paul Neighbours magazine, under the Best Version Media banner. She recently returned from Toronto, where she won her second top sales award.